Psalms 46:7

46:7 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ¹ 

The God of Jacob ²  is our protector! ³  (Selah)

Psalms 46:11

46:11 The Lord who commands armies is on our side! ⁴ 

The God of Jacob ⁵  is our protector! ⁶  (Selah)

Psalms 62:7-8

62:7 God delivers me and exalts me;

God is my strong protector and my shelter. ⁷ 

62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!

Pour out your hearts before him! ⁸ 

God is our shelter! (Selah)

Psalms 91:1-9

Psalm 91 ⁹ 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ¹⁰  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ¹¹ 

and resides in the protective shadow ¹²  of the mighty king ¹³  –

91:2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,

my God in whom I trust –

91:3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter ¹⁴ 

and from the destructive plague.

91:4 He will shelter you ¹⁵  with his wings; ¹⁶ 

you will find safety under his wings.

His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ¹⁷ 

91:5 You need not fear the terrors of the night, ¹⁸ 

the arrow that flies by day,

91:6 the plague that comes in the darkness,

or the disease that comes at noon. ¹⁹ 

91:7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,

and a multitude on your right side,

it ²⁰  will not reach you.

91:8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes –

you will see the wicked paid back. ²¹ 

91:9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,

my shelter, the sovereign One. ²² 

Psalms 142:5

142:5 I cry out to you, O Lord;

I say, “You are my shelter,

my security ²³  in the land of the living.”

Proverbs 14:26

14:26 In the fear of the Lord one has ²⁴  strong confidence, ²⁵ 

and it will be a refuge ²⁶  for his children.

Proverbs 18:10

18:10 The name of the Lord ²⁷  is like ²⁸  a strong tower; ²⁹ 

the righteous person runs ³⁰  to it and is set safely on high. ³¹ 

Luke 13:34

13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ³²  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ³³  How often I have longed ³⁴  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ³⁵  you would have none of it! ³⁶ 

Hebrews 6:18

6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ³⁷  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

[46:7]  ¹ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:7]  ² tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:7]  ³ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[46:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts is with us.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Ps 24:10). The military imagery is further developed in vv. 8-9.

[46:11]  ⁵ tn That is, Israel, or Judah (see Ps 20:1).

[46:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “our elevated place” (see Pss 9:9; 18:2).

[62:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “upon God [is] my deliverance and my glory, the high rocky summit of my strength, my shelter [is] in God.”

[62:8]  ⁸ tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).

[91:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ¹² sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ¹³ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[91:3]  ¹⁴ tn The word refers specifically to a fowler (or hunter of birds).

[91:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).

[91:4]  ¹⁶ tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final yod (י) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod [י] at the beginning of the next word).

[91:4]  ¹⁷ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”

[91:5]  ¹⁸ tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).

[91:6]  ¹⁹ sn As in Deut 32:23-24, vv. 5-6 closely associate military attack and deadly disease. Perhaps the latter alludes to one of the effects of siege warfare on the population of an entrapped city, which was especially vulnerable to the outbreak of epidemics.

[91:7]  ²⁰ tn Apparently the deadly disease mentioned in v. 6b is the understood subject here.

[91:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”

[91:9]  ²² tn Heb “for you, the Lord, my shelter, the Most High, you have made your dwelling place.”

[142:5]  ²³ tn Heb “my portion.” The psalmist compares the Lord to landed property, which was foundational to economic stability in ancient Israel.

[14:26]  ²⁴ tn Heb “In the fear of the Lord [is] confidence of strength.” The phrase “one has” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[14:26]  ²⁵ tn Heb “confidence of strength.” This construct phrase features an attributive genitive: “strong confidence” (so most English versions; NIV “a secure fortress”).

[14:26]  ²⁶ sn The fear of the Lord will not only provide security for the parent but will also be a refuge for children. The line recalls Exod 20:5-6 where children will reap the benefits of the righteous parents. The line could also be read as “he [= God] will be a refuge for the children.”

[18:10]  ²⁷ sn The “name of the Lord” is a metonymy of subject. The “name” here signifies not the personal name “Yahweh,” for that would be redundant in the expression “the name of Yahweh,” but the attributes of the Lord (cf. Exod 34:5-7) – here his power to protect.

[18:10]  ²⁸ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.

[18:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “a tower of strength,” with “strength” regarded as attributive by most English versions. The metaphor “strong tower” indicates that God is a secure refuge. The figure is qualified in the second colon.

[18:10]  ³⁰ sn The metaphor of “running” to the Lord refers to a whole-hearted and unwavering trust in God’s protection (e.g., Isa 40:31).

[18:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “is high” or “is inaccessible.” This military-type expression stresses the effect of the trust – security, being out of danger (see HALOT 1305 s.v. שׂגב). Other scriptures will supply the ways that God actually protects people who trust him.

[13:34]  ³² sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[13:34]  ³³ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[13:34]  ³⁴ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[13:34]  ³⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:34]  ³⁶ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[6:18]  ³⁷ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.